“An altercation broke out among some individuals and there was an exchange of gunfire. During that gunfire a number of innocent bystanders were struck,” said Blair.”It’s a very shocking event, a lot of people were injured tonight.”

The two killed in the shooting were a teenage girl and a man in his 20s, officials said.

Blair did not provide the age of the child who was injured but says the injuries are “not life-threatening and the child will be fine.”

Those hurt in the incident suffered a mix of gunshot wounds and injuries from the mass panic that ensued.

(AP/Reuters)

Coming barely six weeks after a shooting at a shopping mall that killed one and wounded six, it is likely to raise fears about the use of guns in a city which takes pride in its relatively low crime rate compared with U.S. urban centres.

At the time of last shooting in Toronto’s Eaton Centre the city’s mayor, Rob Ford, described it as an isolated incident in “the safest city in the world”.